This week, I am in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the week rather than at the end so that I can attend the Institute of Medicine's annual meeting. The focus of the meeting was "innovation." Listening to the talks, I couldn't help but reflect on how Charles Drew University could be in the forefront of the innovation in health professional education, and health care delivery to underserved populations. It was energizing. While I'm here in the Nation's Capitol, I will be meeting with our federal lobbyists. We'll begin to map out a comprehensive strategy for the federal legislative efforts on the university's behalf. I also wanted to report that good progress is being made on the presidential search. Con Hopper, vice-chair of the board and chair of the search committe, and I have had a number of disucssions with our search consultant, Deborah Prothrow-Stith, over this past week. The search committee should be finalized and posted tomorrow.

M. Roy Wilson, M.D.Chairman Board of Trustees

Be a Mission Maker, a Dream Maker

For those who believe—believe in what Charles Drew University stands for—your help is needed. For those who appreciate—appreciate the university’s mission of providing research and health care services, your support is sought. For those who trust—trust in the education received here, your ability to make a difference has never been greater. A new fundraiser, known as the ‘Mission Maker Campaign,’ is expected to be rolled out later this week by the Office of Development. The goal is 100% participation across the university community. Read More

Saturday Science Helps Put Students On-Track for Graduating from CollegeIt's 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The students, more than 200 in all, began arriving early for opening day in the Fall session of this year's Saturday Science Academy II program. By being here, the odds of attending college shifted heavily in their favor, a new report shows. Of 112 former students who responded to the academy’s survey, 101 said they were attending a four-year college. What’s more, 14 students already have graduated and the others remain on-track to earn a degree, according to the survey which covered the years from 2000-2008. “The Saturday Science Academy is the heart and lungs of the Charles Drew University Science pipeline, breathing inspiration and pumping an ‘I can do it’ belief into young children,” said Lorraine Grey, who heads the program that teaches math, science and seeks to help them visualize a career in health care.

The university is expected to announce as early as Tuesday, Oct. 12 who will be added to the President’s Search Committee. The campus community sent in nominations last week for those who will help shape the criteria for evaluating the university’s candidates for president. In all, the new committee will contain a total of 10 people. M. Roy Wilson, M.D. who chairs the Board of Trustees, said in recent weeks that the names will be drawn from other sources, including the student body, the Charles R. Drew Medical Society, which is an organization of black physicians, and community members.

News in Brief

School of Nursing

Dean Gloria J. McNeal, serves as editor of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty Journal, overseeing a 30-member editorial board. The Fall issue has been published, though the latest edition online can be found here.

A revised Finance Policy Manual has been posted on the university’s intranet website, describing in detail the internal rules for handling financial matters, said Dr. Ron Lau, vice president of Finance.

Charles Drew University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian, minority-serving medical and health sciences institution. Located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, Charles Drew University has graduated more than 550 medical doctors, 2,500 post-graduate physicians, more than 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals.The only dually designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the U.S., CDU is recognized as a leader in translational and health inequities research. Recently, the CDU/UCLA medical program was named “best performer” in the University of California System with respect to producing outstanding underrepresented minority physicians, according to the Greenlining Institute.